Arin's Revenge
by cindersnow21
Summary: After the mercenary died, Arin is left broken and shattered. What will she do now? An extension of Episode 1 of the Grand Athenaeum/Library of Dimensions questlines.
1. Prologue: Six Years Old

**I just LOVED Episode 1 of the Grand Athenaeum dungeon. I wanted to see what Arin would do after the episode ended, so I decided to try and write something for it.**

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"Mercenary!" I cried. "Mercenary, don't die. Don't go!"

It was no use.

His eyes were already closed, his lips forming a smile in bliss as he died. Why was he happy? He was dying!

I stared at him for the longest time, tears streaming down my cheeks. When he exhaled his last breath, I completely broke down and started to bawl.

My father. My mother. My home. And now the mercenary.

How much more was the White Mage going to take before he took my life too?

I wanted to die right there. I didn't even care anymore. My life had no meaning now. This little gun I held would be no use against someone as powerful as the now-corrupt White Mage. If the mercenary died at his hands, then I wouldn't even stand a chance. I wanted to test my hypothesis so badly right then.

I looked at the dead mercenary again. _Mercenary…what would you do? You lectured me so much back then. Please, lecture me again. Just one more time…_ And a new wave of tears came forth.

I hadn't even noticed that it had stopped raining in the Forest of Peace. It had probably stopped a few moments before the mercenary passed away, but I didn't care. My clothes were soaked through but I didn't feel the cold.

I felt the cold inside my heart though. It was so empty. I had no one. There was no one to take care of me, to protect me, to even teach me. It was even worse than the period of time before the mercenary found me in Ellin Forest.

The mercenary had risked his life to protect me against the Omens. I couldn't even do anything when he faced the White Mage.

I remembered how my parents had tried to protect me against the Omens. They told me to run away, to run from our little house in the outskirts of Ellin Forest. They stayed behind to distract the Omens. I remembered how scared I was.

Steely resolve formed within me. I refused to disappoint the people who had worked so hard to protect me. I was going to do something with my life. I was not going to throw it away attacking the White Mage like the mercenary did. But I would attack. One day. I didn't care if I died. He is going _down_.

I am going to protect the citizens of Maple World.

I am going to keep them from ever having to feel the pain I did.

And I am going to destroy the White Mage, no matter what the cost.

I looked down at the mercenary. I began to dig into the soft soil, occasionally hitting glowing pieces of rock, not caring if my hands got dirty. He got hurt to kill the Omens. I was going to do what I could for him.

When the hole looked to be about his size, I gently moved the mercenary into the hole. I covered him completely, and used a large piece of glowing rock to mark his grave. Unfortunately, I had nothing to inscribe the rock with. I noticed his sword, which had fallen out of his hand. I laid it next to the stone, and walked away.

_Good bye, mercenary_.


	2. Prologue II: Eighteen Years Between

_Eighteen Years Between_

During the eighteen years, she hadn't forgotten about the events of her childhood. She remembered very clearly what had happened, and that near-photographic memory of hers had helped her on more than one occasion. The news about the White Mage just got darker and darker. Now, nobody even remembered that he was once the White Mage, or they had forgotten. They gave him a new name.

The Black Mage.

Arin thought it suited him perfectly. The monster that she had caught a glimpse of before he blew up the temple could not be considered human or associated with the light at all. After she had left the mercenary, she had gone back to the Aurora Temple. Mars and Vieren were dead, as were the rest of the Aurora researchers. She hadn't realized there were so many until she found the bodies. Needless to say, it was extremely traumatizing for a small child. She left the Forest of Peace, and managed to make her way back to Ellin Forest after months of hard trekking. Queen Ephenia hadn't forgotten her, and she let Arin stay for a few days to rest before she left.

From then on, she had followed a meandering path. Throughout Maple World she traveled, collecting old weapons that people threw out and fixing them up as best she could. Her favorite weapon was the old wooden bow she found in Leafre that a passing traveler had dropped. It was about as tall as she was, and using arrows dropped from passing monsters, she learned to shoot through sheer determination and persistence, shooting at trees again and again until she managed to hit each one and even split an arrow once.

To get food and money, she either begged or hunted monsters. At first, the monsters were too powerful for her, but she raggedly trained on. Arin could now effectively use every type of weapon of every class except for magic weapons, because no one had ever taught her how to harness mana.

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When Arin turned seventeen, she decided to visit Ariant. At the time, she was completely broke in Magatia and needed to buy more arrows because she had run out. She'd heard that the mogul of Ariant, Hatsar, wanted assistance with something, and would pay a handsome reward. Arin traveled as quickly as she could, not wanting to miss out on this opportunity to earn money. Maybe she could get in some target practice doing this job.

"Have you come to take my job offer?" asked Hatsar, leaning back in his enormous and gaudy purple throne in his lavish castle.

"What do you want me to do?" Arin cut in before he could get the chance to go off on a long tangent. Hey, she was on a tight schedule (doing nothing) and a man like this would do her no favors wasting her time.

Hatsar leaned back, seemingly amused by her obnoxious attitude. "You remind me of someone I met a long time ago. A curious fellow, that mercenary."

"Mercenary?" Arin asked, her interest piqued.

"He was a good fellow. He never did follow through on my request, though. I had to deal with those monsters impeding my trade for ten years," he said. "You just need to rid me of those flying menaces and I will give you your reward."

"Where do I have to go?"

"Just follow my servant and he'll show you."

Arin successfully killed all the monsters with a sword she carried with her, and at a speed that impressed even the mogul.

"You _are_ like the mercenary, except that you actually followed through. Here is your gold," said Hatsar. Arin took the gold, but before she was shooed out, she asked one last question.

"Can you describe the mercenary?" she asked.

"He had golden blond hair and blue eyes, and always wore a brown hooded cape," said Hatsar. "I asked him to bring the White Mage to me, but he never did. I waited months for that man, but he never returned. Such a shame. I had piles of gold waiting for him."

"Thank you," said Arin, and she went out.

_So he is the reason why the mercenary is dead,_ thought Arin angrily. _No, I can't think that way. This world is dangerous regardless of information brokers. Plus, I would have never met him if Hatsar hadn't gotten the mercenary's interest._

Arin continued on her journey to get stronger, but now there was more determination in her step, knowing that she was like her father figure in the wake of her parents' deaths. She took more jobs, and soon she started to take jobs in the more morally-ambiguous areas of the world.

And that is where we begin our tale today.


	3. Chapter 1: Adventure!

**A/N: This story is going to be chock-full of OCs and I don't even really know where I'm going with this...so yeah...bear with me? :3**

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_Chapter 1_

_Let's Go on an Adventure Together!_

Arin sat in a bar, waiting for the man to get her another drink. It was a dingy old building in Kerning City, the dirty kind that those with less-than-lawful jobs would go to discuss their dealings and illegal earnings. The bar was in disrepair; a couple of spiders had decided to make their homes in the corners and the wood was rotten. Holes were prominent in the walls. There were only a few tables and chairs, dim lighting and a long counter at which Arin sat now. She was very disappointed with the selection of liquor but decided to deal with it because she didn't know any other place that would be suitable for what she wanted to do tonight.

She wasn't too worried about getting drunk in this type of place. For a person of small stature like her she could down a surprisingly large amount of alcohol before even getting slightly tipsy. She would know, she had once attempted to drink herself into oblivion on a particularly bad night when the memories hit her. And oh, how often did the memories hit. The alcohol didn't help, but it was comforting for some reason.

Her contact still hadn't come after three hours. She was beginning to wonder if he was testing her, or if he really was running late. Come to think of it, she wasn't even sure if it was a he or not. Maybe it was a she. Or it was a bunny.

The bartender placed the glass in front of her. This was her third drink in a row, and she was so pissed off that she didn't even care about the taste anymore. The in-between had CLEARLY SAID 7:30 on Thursday, but the contact hadn't shown up yet and it was 10:33 now.

Suddenly, a blast of cold wind came in. Silhouetted was a tall person in a trench coat and a fedora. _How cliché, _smirked Arin internally, but she didn't dare voice it lest the man in the trench coat also had excellent ninja-like hearing.

The man looked directly at her, and when she stared back he started towards her.

"I like green bunnies," she said nonchalantly.

"I prefer purple ones," replied the man.

She wasn't stupid enough to just trust him because he got the line correct. What if he was just lucky enough to say the correct thing?

"Did you know the sky is green?" Arin asked. She and the in-between had prepared about three different code lines. If worst came to worst, she could just ask for the in-between's description.

"Miss, I think you've had enough to drink—" interrupted the bartender, who was cut off mid-sentence by the man's glare.

"I believe it's deep red, like the color of your hood. Come, I think you've had enough. Let us go," said the man shortly. He grabbed her hand and dragged her out of there.

"You could have at least let me finish the drink," complained Arin. "That shit cost money."

"Watch your language. No, you're coming with me," snapped the man.

"Sorry, boss," Arin snapped back.

"…Hurry up, kid."

"Don't call me kid." _Only the mercenary can call me that. _And suddenly, she wished she'd gotten more beer.

They had reached their destination by then—an old apartment building that was just as dingy and rotten as the bar they'd just left. It had about three stories, and Arin had no doubt they'd be on the third story.

"You are underage, so you are, by definition, a kid," he replied, leading her in, up the stairs and into the room.

Arin scowled. "I'm twenty-four, bastard."

The man just smirked. Once they were inside, he took off his sunglasses, hat and trench coat. Arin gave him the once-over. He had short brown hair and a long diamond-shaped face. His eyes reminded Arin of someone she had known a long time ago…maybe even eighteen years ago… She racked her brains to try to connect the resemblance.

"You look like someone…" she murmured.

The man looked at her impassively.

"You look like Vieren!" she exclaimed. "He had a kid? Wait, that makes you younger than me! You're only eighteen! Why you call me kid, eh, boy?"

"You're short. And you have a squeaky voice. So I assumed." To his credit, he looked suitably chastised.

"You shouldn't just _assume_ things about people!" she complained.

"Maybe I shouldn't." His expression clearly said _Does this really matter?_

"So, the kid said you had information for me?"

"Yes."

"Stop wasting my time and tell me." said Arin straightforwardly.

"There is a secret underground organization aiming to destroy the Black Mage. They are based on a nameless floating island."

"I'd be interested because…?"

"You want to destroy him too, don't you? To get revenge on the Black Mage for the Omens and killing the mercenary."

Arin stared at him. "How do you know about the mercenary and the Omens?"

"Father wrote many letters and sent them by magic to Mother," said the man. "I read them all. You are Arin, correct?"

"What's your name then?"

"Gevierd."

"What's your reason for fighting the Black Mage, Gevierd?" Arin had already guessed why, but she wanted to hear it from his lips.

"Guess."

"I want you to say it."

"Because my father trusted the White Mage, who betrayed and killed him, and because the White Mage continues to harass the denizens of Maple World today," said Gevierd in a monotone voice.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Arin sincerely. "Vieren was kind to me and the mercenary."

"You never learned the mercenary's name?" Gevierd smirked.

"I never thought it was important…he only ever called me 'kid' anyway. _Anyway_, what are we going to do now?"

"Isn't it clear? We're going to the floating island."

"How are you going to find their base?"

"I'll figure it out."

"How are we going to reach the floating island? There's no ship that goes there."

"Fly," said Gevierd sarcastically.

Arin glared daggers at him. "I didn't pack my wings, sorry."

Gevierd sighed. "Go to sleep. I'll tell you how we're going in the morning."

"Where can I sleep?"

He led her to a bed in a room leading off from the living room. It wasn't too small, but the paint on the walls was peeling, the bed looked positively ancient and the nightstand was just as rotten through as the walls. The lamp sitting on the nightstand appeared to be broken. Arin wondered what his situation was, but knew that it was better not to ask.

"It's not much, but this is the best I can do," said Gevierd. His stony mask was still on, but Arin could sense his nervousness clearly in both his words and slight trembling.

She smiled brightly at him. "Thanks, man! This is going to be the best sleep I've had in ages! I've been sleeping in back alleys these past few weeks in Kerning, so this honestly looks heavenly~"

Gevierd looked mildly bemused, and then he left.

Arin crashed onto the bed and slept the night away.


End file.
